EPA Lead Safe Firm Application for RRP – Instructions

The EPA requires any firm that is doing work on pre-1978 homes or child-occupied facilities to complete this application and get certified through an accredited EPA RRP Trainer. Failure to do so may result in huge fines of up to $37,500 per violation, per day that you or your company is not in compliance. If you need any help completing this application, please call 646-564-3546.

**Effective September15, 2015 EPA will no longer offer the option to submit firm certification applications by mail. After that date all firm applications, payments, updates and certificate replacement requests will be done online at http://www2.epa.gov/lead/getcertified.

Hello
I work for a company in Northern Virginia. We are a lead safe certified firm and also have a division in Southern Virginia. The Southern division is venturing in to North Carolina for possible lead renovation, and repairs. I do understand that there needs to be an individual certificate class obtained need to know if our firm certification is valid in North Carolina.
Thank you

Hi TJ – North Carolina does have separate paperwork requirements from EPA/Virginia – you will need to submit a form for the company and for any individuals who have taken the Lead Renovator training and will be working there. If their training is still valid, they won’t need to re-take the class to work in NC. Here is the link to the NC website with the forms: http://epi.publichealth.nc.gov/lead/forms.html

I live in Michigan, and last year I took an 8 hour class and got a lead abatement certificate. I can’t remember where I took the class and I lost my certificate . ive researched for hours online with no success. where can I get a copy of my certificate?

Hi Tony, training required depends on the type of work you would be doing. Typically you should at least have completed some OSHA safety training as you are encountering lead on the jobsite. Additional training may be required if you are dealing with lead hazards. Please give us a call at 646-564-3546 if you would like to discuss this further based on your situation.

If you are referring to your Firm Certification, you will want to complete the EPA’s online application as soon as possible to renew.
If your individual certification (ie. the certificate with your picture and personal name on it) is expired, then you will want to take a 4-hour refresher class – here is the class schedule: https://www.greenedu.com/lead-renovators-certification-refresher-courses. NOTE: If you work in AL, DE, GA, IA, KS, MS, NC, OK, OR, RI, UT, or WI, then you are no longer eligible for the refresher class and will need to take the full 8-hour RRP course again.

Hi Charles,
The Firm Certification would be required. The EPA requires any firm that is paid to perform work that disturbs lead paint or conducts lead dust sampling in housing or child-occupied facilities built before 1978 to be certified. The EPA’s definition of a firm includes “a Federal, State, Tribal, or local government agency; or a nonprofit organization.” The fee would be $300 for the 5-year firm certification.

The training certificate will have your name, picture, and personal accreditation number on it, and is valid for any company you work for since it is assigned to you personally. This is separate from the Firm Certification, which is just for the company.

I recently took the RRP course and now I’m lead certify as an RRP. However I took the course only for the credits as required by the state. I have no intentions of ever doing work as a contractor nor do my employees. I’m a design firm. Do I still need to file with EPA as a corporation or firm?

Unfortunately the EPA does not currently offer a way to officially expedite your application. The best we can recommend would be to contact your regional EPA office and ask to speak with your regional lead paint program manager to see if they are able to assist you – here is the list of regional EPA office phone numbers: http://www2.epa.gov/aboutepa/mailing-addresses-and-phone-numbers#regional

For Part B, the Yes/No applies to the question “Indicate whether you are a federally-recognized Indian tribe seeking certification as a firm.” If you are not an Indian tribe, then you would select “No” for this question.
Once you submit the Firm Application to the EPA along with your fee, the EPA has 90 days to process your application. However lately they have reported a 3-4 week average processing time so it may be faster. You will receive a certificate in the mail from the EPA once everything has been processed.

Hi Mike,
This would depend – if your new business has a new Tax ID Number from your old business, then you would be required to submit a new firm application.

However if the business Tax ID is the same as before then you could just submit an amended application. To send an amended application, print the PDF above and select “Option # 3 – Amend Existing Certification” for section A, complete the rest of the application, and then include a letter to the EPA with the application explaining that the business name changed.

Hi I have a friend who is a Licensed painting contractor if he is doing a home with lead removal and he does not have a lead certification. Can he hire me to do his lead removal if i am lead certified? Does he have to fill out the lead firm app and pay 300$?

Your friend DOES need to get his or her firm certified and it would be OK for them to hire you as an employee as the certified renovator for the project. Please keep in mind though that you will need to be the supervisor for the job and that your colleague can only supervise the work once they attain their lead certification as well.

So as a sole proprietor, do I need to give them just my name as the firm or the name that I go by. The name that I go by isn’t registered with the state or anything. I just file as a sole proprietor. Thanks

Hi Andy – Yes, you would need to submit another firm application in order to have your new company certified with the EPA. Please let us know if you have any additional questions an we will be glad to assist.

The only classes available to me are 2+ hours away, which I’ll have to go to, but I talked to a few contractors I know and they told me they took the course and got certified on line through the EPA web site. Do you still offer this?

Yes, you can also register your company online through the EPA website at http://epa.gov/lead/lscp-renovation.html to receive your Firm Certification. This replaces mailing in the hard-copy application for your firm, however you would still need to attend the 8-hour training class to earn your Renovator Certification.

Hello Dov – the certificate that has your name on it is for your individual certification, while the “EPA Firm Application” is the one you need to get your company name. Individual certificates are not valid for your company, only those certs attained by completing the Firm App can count for your company.

Hello
I have only me in the company and I already have my lead certification but I was told that the company had to also be lead certified. But before the company can apply for it I have to become a firm. So my question is can I apply to become a firm online or is it just the print out? How long does it take to become a firm so I can apply the firm to be a led Certified too.

Hello,
“Company” and “firm” in this case both refer to your business name, no matter if it’s just you or if you have several employees. Therefore, you can use the application on this page to register with the EPA just by filling in your business details and mailing in the app with the $300 fee. Then the EPA will issue you a Lead-Safe Certification once the application is processed, which is good for 5 years, just like your training certificate. It can potentially take up to 90 days to be approved, but you can call the EPA Lead Hotline at 1-800-424-5323 to ask about the current processing times for these applications. If you prefer, you can also register online instead at http://www.epa.gov/lead/lscp-renovation.html

Jurisdiction would only apply if you are certified to perform Lead Abatement or Inspection/Risk Assessment work. For the RRP Lead Renovator Certification, you are not required to select a jurisdiction – you will be approved to work in any state that is under the EPA’s enforcement. Therefore, your total firm registration fee would just be $300 total for the Renovation Certification.

We are seeing about 4 weeks right now for the apps to be turned around, so getting it in as soon possible is your best bet. You do not need to be certified prior to submitting the firm application, so you can send it as soon as it is completed.